A Game of Time
by Myseybee
Summary: After a stressed out Percy receives shadowy threats, his thoughts go to the one person he can't lose. But then she slips from his grasp, and the clock starts ticking for her. To make matters worse, the person behind it promises that only one will leave alive.


Laughter. That's the first thing she consciously heard.

Then something cold, something silky came into contact with her face, stroking her cheek gently.

"Oh darling Annie. What a prize you are.."

Annabeth snapped awake. Her eyes flew open and she instinctively flinched away from the touch.

"Oh!" The smooth voice laughed in her ear. "The princess awakes!"

Annabeth's head shot up and she looked, terrified, for the source of the voice.

But she was alone. Alone, lying on a freezing stone floor in a freezing stone room. Panic began to set in as Annabeth spotted a cobweb in one of the corners. She couldn't remember a thing about how she got here. Last place she remembered being was dinner at camp with Percy and Grover. Percy had been his usual idiotic self, and...

Wait. No. He hadn't. He'd been quieter than usual. She remembered the tightness of her sleeve as Percy grabbed it during dinner. He'd grabbed her left sleeve just after returning from giving his offering, and had refused to explain.

"I'm feeling clingy today." Was the only reply she got out of him for the whole meal.

Oh it was all coming back to her now.

_"Percy! First you cling to me like a limpet, then you 'escort' me back to my cabin! What's the matter with you!?" Annabeth snapped, stopping a few yards from her cabin, digging her heels into the path as Percy dragged her towards her bunk mates._

_"Annabeth, please!" Percy begged, finally meeting her eyes. "Just let me make sure you're safe!"_

_"I shan't take another step until you explain to me what in the name of Zeus you're trying to do!"_

_Percy's hand slipped out of hers, and she crossed her arms irritably. What was wrong with the boy!? There had been no prophecies recently for him to get all agitated about, his mother was fine as far as she knew, there was no ongoing war...? Annabeth sighed. _Boys_. They were getting closer and closer to being an official couple, (Aphrodite's children were appearing more and more often, usually ending with Annabeth and Percy being alone..) and yet Percy apparently didn't realise how stubborn Annabeth was. He'd known her for years!_

_"I've been... threatened." He said at last, and Annabeth's mood switched instantly. Her anger gone, concern and preparation for kicking someone's butt took over._

_"Who by?"_

_Percy didn't answer, just shuffled uncomfortably._

_"Percy Jackson, you're my best friend," Annabeth started, refusing to add what she so badly wanted to say. "Why won't you tell me? You can trust me, you know that."_

_After nearly a whole minute of silence, he finally gave in. "Somewhere quieter. Hang on, just let me tell someone in your cabin I'll be bringing you back later."_

_He raced away without waiting for an answer. Annabeth sighed again. How did that boy's mind work?_

_She stood for a few moments in the growing darkness. Before she came to Camp Half-Blood, she'd been utterly terrified of the dark. When Luke and Thalia found her, in a darkening construction site, her younger self had been almost sobbing at the thought of another night alone outside. But they'd rescued her, shown her her first real family and the glow it could provide, and slowly, over the years, her fear had shrunk. Now, standing here under the trees in a place she'd finally come to call home, Annabeth let the gentle breeze rush over her in a wave of calmness._

_The breeze had a sweet, sugary scent. Her body relaxed. It was just so peaceful for her. At that moment, nothing mattered except the lovely walk she was about to have with Percy. He was such a sweet boy, why didn't he just ask her out? She'd so gladly say yes.._

_"Come on, Annabeth. I need to talk to you."_

_Annabeth almost shrieked. Percy had crept up silently behind her._

_"Gods, Percy! That nearly gave me a heart attack!"_

_Percy smiled. "I apologise, Annie... Annabeth. I didn't mean to scare you."_

_He gestured for her to walk further into the woods, in the direction of the camp entrance. Annabeth could've sworn she heard him add the word "yet." onto the end of his sentence, but dismissed it as a trick of the forest. The breeze and the feelings of comforting happiness followed, and she forgot about her suspicion almost immediately._

_They quietly strolled through the forest, not talking, but Annabeth didn't mind. It was perfect. How could she want anything else than to just leave the camp with Percy?_

_Woah, where had that thought come from?_

_Percy turned his head sharply. "What's wrong?"_

_"I feel... I feel weird." Annabeth mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head gently. "Like nothing matters. I'm too calm. I'm never like this."_

_She stumbled into a tree. Shouts rang out distantly, but Annabeth was too stunned to register them. Percy strode up to her as she clung to the trunk._

_"Annabeth, are you alright?" He asked in a voice without emotion._

_The world was spinning under her feet, and Annabeth's grasp on the tree loosened. She hit the floor on her hands and knees. The shouts were nearer by now. Annabeth tried to stand._

_"There's trouble... Back at camp... We should... Percy...?"_

_Her feeble protests were ignored. Percy roughly pulled her to her feet and pushed her forwards. One foot after the other, Annabeth stumbled over her own feet every couple of steps. It was like she was under a spell. She couldn't think straight. They broke from the forest just as lights appeared between the trees. Percy turned and glared at her._

_"So close!" He hissed. "Come on, useless girl!"_

_"You're not my Percy." Annabeth slurred. "What have you done with him?"_

_A sharp slap round her cheek silenced her. The sound echoed round the empty clearing, and Annabeth caught her breath sharply. Something was very, very wrong. The Percy Jackson she knew wouldn't hit her – he wouldn't _dare _hit her. But apart from the searing pain in her left cheek, the smack did do one useful thing. It also partially knocked her out of her trance._

_She waited a few seconds. Then, a few steps away from the camp border, Annabeth lashed out. Her fist caught Percy in the chest, sending him reeling away from her. Percy hadn't been expecting the attack, and Annabeth fell to the floor._

_"Annabeth!"_

_She lifted her head. Another Percy had just emerged from the trees with most of the camp hot on his heels. The real Percy. She forced her hand off the ground and reached out for him. But a hand closing around her other wrist yanked her backwards before she could shout his name. The fake Percy's tug made her fly backwards, tumbling into a heap just outside the boundary._

_"No!"_

_Winds whipped up, picking up dust. Real Percy's face was a mask of horror. He was so close. Annabeth reached out for him. A couple more steps and he'd reach her..._

_"Percy, stop!" A voice yelled._

_Roots grew instantly round his ankles, sending him plunging to earth. No!_

_The Percy holding Annabeth snarled. "Fine! If I can't have him now, I'll just wait! He'll come to me, Chiron!"_

_Annabeth collapsed completely. She was ready to succumb to the sleep that was trying to overpower her._

_But Fake Percy wasn't done. As she drifted out of consciousness, he yelled at the Real Percy struggling on the ground._

_"Find me quickly, Son of Poseidon. Find me before she dies!"_

_And at the tap on her forehead, Annabeth finally passed out._


End file.
